Chapter 45: Bloodline Slate

Under the night sky with sparse stars and a bright moon.

Nine Leaves Mountain, however, had a mist even thicker than in the morning.

Not until Su Ping walked into the mist holding the Wooden Tablet did he feel the fog around him suddenly churn.

Then, a surge of water vapor formed a floating platform beneath his feet, carrying Su Ping directly toward the mountaintop.

Unlike the Market located on the mountainside.

On the mountaintop, there was only a simple and ancient-looking courtyard.

As Su Ping landed at the entrance, an old acquaintance, that old Cultivator who presided over Yunbao Pavilion, immediately came to greet him.

The old Cultivator recognized Su Ping but did not expose him, only whispering quietly while handing over the Wooden Tablet: "Daoist, please come in. First, take a look at the Yun Family's goods catalog; the Yun Family's Auction will be held shortly."

"Afterward, the Yun Family will act as a guarantor and provide quiet rooms for everyone to communicate."

"Please rest assured, Daoist; the Nine Leaves Market's Cloud-Mist Array is already operating at full capacity, and everyone's privacy and safety can be guaranteed."

Su Ping nodded slightly, noncommittal toward the Yun Family's guarantee.

He entered the main hall of the courtyard and saw that several people were already seated around a large round table.

One of them, if he was not mistaken, seemed to be that Talisman Master Luo? Although this old Cultivator was wearing a mask, he was still wearing the same Dharma Robe seen last time.

Furthermore, the scent of rouge and powder on him had not changed, as smelled by Spirit Mouse Xiaobai.

Su Ping shook his head inwardly.

The Immortal Sect had been peaceful for too long, to the point that an old Cultivator like this, who had relied on the path of Talismans to earn Spirit Stones peacefully for decades, had lost his sense of caution.

Slowly sipping good tea, he waited for a while.

After a few more Cultivators who looked extraordinary in bearing arrived at the courtyard, the gate closed, and a layer of water mist enveloped the courtyard.

Then, a Cultivator at the Qi Refining Late Stage stepped from the corridor into the main hall and cupped his hands to salute the attending Cultivators.

"I am Yun Yuan, the current Great Elder of the Yun Family!"

"At the same time, I am also the Third Deacon of the Outer Sect's Agricultural Affairs Hall."

"Entrusted by the family this time, I have come to serve as the host for the Yun Family; I hope you all will be magnanimous regarding any shortcomings."

Yun Yuan walked quickly to the main seat, scanned the people who had come to attend, and took out a Storage Bag marked as number one, placing it on the tabletop:

"Three-hundred-year-old mid-grade Dragon Whisker Grass, starting price 100 Spirit Stones..."

Su Ping had already finished reading the goods catalog and was not interested in the initial Spirit Plants.

He was not proficient in alchemy, nor did he understand the art of Spirit Plants.

Moreover, those who bought these were usually Outer Sect Cultivators with backgrounds in other Immortal cultivation families.

Su Ping hated trouble and disdained competing with them for these useless items.

"It's here!"

As the auction progressed past the halfway point, Su Ping suddenly straightened his body, his gaze fixed on the Storage Bag Yun Yuan had brought out.

"Bloodline Slate, this one from our Yun Family was obtained by our founder a hundred years ago and can identify three thousand six hundred types of Spirit Bodies."

Yun Yuan paused before continuing:

"This item is a must-have for Cultivators who aspire to establish an Immortal cultivation family."

"With this Bloodline Slate, one can know in advance whether descendants have a Natural Spirit Body, so as to focus on nurturing them."

"It requires Spirit Stones to activate; each Spirit Stone can perform one hundred tests."

"Each time, it can test the blood of up to one hundred people."

"Additionally, it comes with a Jade Slip detailing Spirit Bodies, annotated by the successive founders of our Yun Family."

"Starting price... 200 Spirit Stones!"

Su Ping stared at the Storage Bag, his mind recalling the relevant knowledge he had recently studied.

Dharma Artifacts capable of accurately testing the quality of Spirit Roots had always been strictly controlled by the Immortal Sect; even among Immortal cultivation families, he had never heard of anyone publicly claiming to possess such a Dharma Artifact.

Those Immortal cultivation families mostly settled for the next best thing, choosing Dharma Artifacts like the Bloodline Slate that could test for Spirit Bodies.

Most of those who possessed Spirit Roots did not have Spirit Bodies.

Unless extremely special, those who possessed Spirit Bodies would at least have Lower Grade Spiritual Roots! For example, that Ji Family woman in Jinque City likely had some kind of charm-related Spirit Body, and thus possessed Lower Grade Spiritual Roots.

If the Ji Family possessed such a Dharma Artifact, there was no doubt that the Ji Family woman could have received family training from a young age.

However, compared to Immortal cultivation families, the level of a mortal powerhouse like the Ji Family was still too far apart.

Let alone two hundred Spirit Stones, even if the Ji Family took out all their liquid capital, they might not be able to scrape together twenty Spirit Stones! "Two hundred and thirty Spirit Stones!" As Yun Yuan's voice fell, a hawk-faced Cultivator who had bought many Spirit Plants bid again: "This is already a high price; at the Immortal Sect's main market, similar Bloodline Slates are only two hundred and fifty Spirit Stones."

Yun Yuan frowned upon hearing this and added:

"But one needs merit contributions to exchange for them at the Immortal Sect's main market; besides, our piece also has over a hundred more types of Spirit Bodies."

"Heh, the probability of Spirit Bodies appearing is too low; how many Spirit Bodies has your Yun Family detected in the past hundred years?"

Listening to their public discussion.

Su Ping silently calculated the Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag.

Besides the more than one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones provided by the Robber Cultivator, the Demon Beast materials Su Ping had sold this week also provided him with over six hundred Spirit Stones.

There was no help for it; even though the quality of materials from forcibly advanced Demon Beasts was low, they had the advantage of being in such large quantities, especially that one-horned ox, which provided nearly six hundred kilograms of Demon Beast meat alone! It made it impossible for Su Ping not to get rich overnight!

"Two hundred and fifty Spirit Stones!"

Su Ping thought for a moment and gave his bid, preparing for other Cultivators to drive up the price.

However, as this price was announced, several Cultivators with backgrounds exchanged glances and tacitly chose to give up.

"Hmm?"

Su Ping was slightly startled, then immediately understood the reason.

The use of a Bloodline Slate was actually quite narrow, and those attending Cultivators who could afford to buy one basically already had similar ones; buying it was just to fill in gaps.

As for those who couldn't afford it... well, naturally, it was even more impossible for them to bid.

If the price was suitable they would buy, if not, they would just let it be.

After all, in this Cultivation World, even cultivation families have a large number of clansmen who are mortals without even an Inferior Spiritual Root.

The probability of a clansman appearing with a Spirit Body is even rarer!

Some stingy cultivation families do not even give non-lineal descendants the chance to use the Bloodline Slate for testing unless they show extraordinary performance.

To ask them to pay a high price for an extra one just to check for omissions, I fear no Cultivator in attendance would dare to make that decision.

Next, Su Ping participated in a few more auctions.

He secured a set of Small Illusion Arrays, as well as several small Dharma Artifacts that could conceal aura and protect the body.

Afterwards, Su Ping began to focus on his breathing, silently waiting for the Auction to end.

Su Ping's behavior made the few family Cultivators led by the hawk-faced Cultivator secretly heave a sigh of relief.

At first, they had thought this guy was some powerful outsider the Yun Family had found from who knows where, here to drive up the prices.

Fortunately, this Cultivator did not participate in the auctions involving heavyweight interests.

It seems they had overthought it.

As the auction reached its second half, Spirit Fields, Spirit Mines, and even the Market itself were all sold off by the Yun Family.

This made the other Cultivators in attendance envious beyond measure.

That old Talisman Master was even a bit uncomposed, as if he dreamed of having his own Market and Spirit Fields.

"The auction is over. Thank you, Daoists, for your patronage. You may come to settle accounts with me, and there are quiet rooms on both sides available for everyone to trade privately."

After speaking, Yun Yuan first went to the back hall with those family Cultivators.

Only after those family Cultivators came out satisfied did Su Ping walk in, settle the Spirit Stones, and receive the Array Disk and other items.

Afterwards, returning to the main hall, Su Ping took out the Peiyuan Pills and Qi-Returning Pills from the Robber Cultivator.

He exchanged some Talismans with that old Talisman Master, and from other Cultivators, he used Spirit Stones to acquire a portion of materials related to Talismans, artifact refining, and Arrays.

Subsequently, Su Ping found Yun Yuan to state that he wished to leave.

Accompanied by the operation of the Array, water vapor carried Su Ping back to the foot of Nine Leaves Mountain.

Stepping onto the ground, Su Ping silently released the Thunder Fire Bead hidden in his sleeve.

He gently closed his eyes and, through Spirit Mouse Xiaobai and Xiaohui, contacted the surrounding mouse swarm to check the situation around Nine Leaves Mountain.

After dozens of seconds, having confirmed it was safe, Su Ping, who was just about to leave, suddenly discovered an unexpected situation:

"Huh?"

"There really is an unexpected situation!"

"However, it doesn't look like it's aimed at me, but rather that a Daoist who left before me has encountered a pursuit!"

(End of this chapter)